Discharge derrick for a sewer cleaning drag bucket



E. A. BROWN Jan. 25, 1966 DISCHARGE DERRICK FOR A SEWER CLEANING DRAG BUCKET 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 30, 1963 l/VVE/VTOR ERIC A BROWN fiTTOP/VEY E. A. BROWN Jan. 25, 1966 DISCHARGE DERRICK FOR A SEWER CLEANING DRAG BUCKET 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 30, 1963 United States Patent 3,231,113 DISCHARGE DERRECK FGR A SEWER CLEANING DRAG BUCKET Eric A. Brown, Elmhurst, Iil., assignor to OErieu Manufacturing Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Aug. 30, 1963, Ser. No. 345,737 1 Claim. (Cl. 214-405) The present invention relates to drag bucket type sewer cleaning equipment by means of which the section of a sewer line between two spaced apart manholes is cleaned by way of a drag bucketwhich is first introduced into the sewer line through one of the two manholes, is then advanced through the sewer line section to a point to the other adjacent manhole, and is thereafter drawn back through the section of the sewer line so as to effect cleaning thereof by a dredging action. Manipulation of the drag bucket is effected by the use of two portable derricks which are set upor positioned in the vicinity of the two manholes, respectively, and include interconnected power-driven winches for drawing the drag bucket back and forth through the intervening section of the sewer line. At the point where discharge operations are conducted, one of the derricks is provided with hoisting means whereby the filled drag bucket is first elevated to a height above the level of an open dump truck and is then tilted into. an inverted position above the truck for the purpose of dumping the contents thereof. The present invention, is specifically concerned with such a discharge derrick and has particular reference to a novel means for dislodging the contents of the invertedbucket when the latter is in position over the dump truck.

Heretofore, in. connection with a convetional discharge derrick of the type briefly outlined above, means have been provided for shaking the inverted drag bucket in order to dislodge the contents thereof, the shaking action taking place by means of a pivotally mounted cradle within which the inverted bucket rests when in its terminal position at the upper discharge end of the discharge derrick. By the intermittent application of power to the cradle through a flexible cable, a rocking action is applied to the cradle for shaking purposes. Although such a shaking procedure may be effective to dislodge the contents of the drag bucket, the procedure is possessed of several limitations and one of these resides in the fact that, due to the wide shaking angle involved and its vigor with. which the shaking action takes place, some of the contents of the bucket is frequently thrown clear of the dump truck, much to the inconvenience of any bystanders who happen to be present in the immediate vicinity. Another limitation lies in the necessary added equipment in the form of controls which are required to effect and control the drag bucket shaking action.

The present invention is designed to overcome the above noted limitations which-are attendant upon the construction and use of conventional drag bucket shaking mechanism on the discharge derrick of sewer-cleaning equipment and, towardthis end, it contemplates the provision of a relatively simple and inexpensive attachment for a discharge derrick, the attachment involving an impact head, together with manual control means whereby the impact head may be repeatedly brought into tapping or rapping engagement with the inverted drag lbllCkBt. Since the bucket is ordinarily formed of steel and, therefore, is of. relatively rigid construction, the effect of such a tapping operation by the impact head against the side of the inverted bucket is transmitted through the entire body of the bucket so as to dislodge any material which has a tendency to cling to the side wall or bottomof the.v bucket at any region along the same. According to the present invention, this tapping action is initiated entirely manually, the mechanism by means of which the impact head is applied to the inverted drag bucket being provided with an operating handle so that no considerations need be given to modifications of the power train which drives or manipulates the bucket drag line.

The provision of a discharge derrick having associated therewith novel impact means for effectively dislodgment of the contents of the inverted drag bucket being, the principal object of the invention, it is a further object to provide such an impact means which is appliciable as original equipment on the associated discharge derrick or may be readily applied to an existing previously fabricated discharge derrick.

The provision in connection with a discharge derrick of a drag bucket impact mechanism which is extremely simple in its construction and, therefore, may be manufactured at a low cost; one which is comprised of a minimum number of parts, particularly moving parts and, therefore, is unlikely to get out of order; one which is rugged and durable and, therefore, will withstand rough usage; one which presents no lubrication problems; one which, when operatively mounted on the associated discharge derrick, is readily accessible for inspection of parts, replacement or repair thereof; and one which otherwise is well adapted to perform the services required of it, are further desirable features which have been borne in mind in the production and development of the present invention.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention, not at this time enumerated, will, become more readily apparent as the following description ensues.

In the accompanying two sheets of drawings forming a part of this specification, one illustrative embodiment of the invention has been shown.

In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a rear perspective view of a dishcharge derrick having the improved impact discharge mechanism of the present invention operatively installed thereon;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the structure shown in FIG. 1 With certain parts broken away in the interests of clarity;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along the inclined plane indicated by the line 3-3 of FIG. l and in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line 6-6 of FIG, 1.

Referring now to the drawings in detail and in particular to FIGS. 1 and 2, the impact mechanism of the present invention is designated in its entirety by the reference numeral 16 and is shown as being operatively installed on a conventional discharge derrick 12. The latter forms a part of a conventional sewer-cleaning equipment of the drag bucket type, and is adapted to hoist a drag bucket 14 from a section of a sewer line through a manhole that is disposed approximately at the position indicated by the dotted line circle M in FIG. 1, the bucket then being elevated along an inclined ramp to to a generally inclined inverted position (see FIGS. 1 and 2) for discharge of its contents by gravity into an open dump truck (not shown) beneath the bucket.

In the main, the discharge derrick 12 is of standard or conventional design and, except for its association with the impact mechanism 19 of the present invention, no claim is made herein to any novelty associated therewith. The illustrated discharge derrick 12 is an exemplary form of derrick to which the impact mechanism 10 may be originally applied or on which it may subsequently be installed as an attachment therefor. It will be understood, however, that the invention is applicable, with or without modification, as required, to other types of discharge derricks than that illustrated herein. Regardless of the particular form of discharge derrick to which the present impact mechanism may be applied, the essential features of the invention are at all times preserved.

The drag bucket 14 is likewise of conventional design, the form of bucket selected for illustration embodying clamshell-type lips 18 which normally remain closed and constitute a composite bottom for the bucket so as to retain a load of material in the bucket while the bucket is being conveyed or hoisted out of the sewer line to the point of discharge. The details of the bucket 14 have not been fully illustrated herein but it will be understood that the clamshell lips 18 are movable between partially open and fully closed positions under the control of guide straps or actuators 24 which are connected to bails 22 and 24. The bail 22 is connected to a fiexible drag line 26 which is passed through a section of the sewer line and emerges from a distant manhole (preferably an adjacent manhole) where it is attached to a suitable winch on a derrick or hoist (not shown) in the vicinity of such manhole. When tension is applied to the line 26, the bucket 14 is drawn, lip end first and with the lips partially open, into the sewer line to a position where filling operations are to be commenced. With the bucket thus positioned for the commencement of the filling operation, a winch 28 on the discharge derrick 12 is operated to draw the bucket 14, open end first, back through the section of the sewer line, by means of a flexible draw line 3t) attached to the bail 24, thus filling the bucket by a dredging action. Drawing of the bucket in this direction causes the clamshell lips to become closed and when the filled bucket arrives in the vicinity of the manhole M, it is then hoisted upwardly through the manhole with its open front end facing upwardly. The bucket first passes around a guide pulley 32 adjacent to the lower front end of the ramp 16 and then travels upwardly along the ramp in an inclined position until it passes over a second guide pulley 34 adjacent to the top or rear end of the ramp 16. As the bucket 14 passes over said guide pulley 34, it assumes a degree of unstable equilibrium and is drawn by the line 30 to the inclined and inverted position wherein it is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 with its open front end region bearing against a stabilizing roller 36 below and slightly forwardly of the guide roller 34, at which time the operation of the winch 28 is automatically terminated by mechanism which forms no part of the present invention and, therefore, has not been illustrated herein. The bucket 14 is thus held in its inclined inverted position with its open end facing generally downwardly so that the contents of the bucket will fall by gravity into the aforementioned dump truck below the bucket. After the contents of the bucket 14 has been discharged into the dump truck, the operation briefly outlined above is reversed and the empty bucket is carried down the ramp 16 and through the manhole M into the sewer line for a repetition of the dredging operation, the two winches including the winch 28 and the winch at the remote manhole location cooperating with each other to effect proper bucket-impelling operations.

Except for the provision of the stabilizing roller 36, the discharge derrick 12 constitutes no part of the present invention and, therefore, many of the details thereof have been omitted from the drawings in the interests of clarity. Briefly, the derrick 12 comprises a framework Stl including various horizontal, vertical and inclined structural members which establish or form a lower horizontal, rectangular platform 52, with a platform proper 53, an inclined upper ramp frame 54 with forwardly converging side members 55, and supporting legs 56 for the discharge derrick as a whole. Various intermediate struts and stays designated generally by the reference numeral 58 extend between the lower ramp platform 52 and upper ramp frame 54 and serve rotatably to support the winch 28 and also drive gearing 69 in associated relation with the winch. A belt drive mechanism 62 operatively connects the drive gearing 51) with a suitable source of power which may be in the form of an internal combustion engine 64 on the platform proper 53 of the platform 52. The framework further includes various transverse members designated generally at 66, and also tie rods generally designated at 68. The inclined ramp 16 is in the form of a wide angle trough-like sheet metal structure which is suitably supported and centered in the ramp frames 54 between the side members 55. At the forward end of the lower frame platform 52, there is provided a suitable hitch 79. Adjustably carried on this hitch is a supporting leg 72 which, in combination with the usual truck support and main wheels (not shown) on the discharge derrick, provides a rolling support by means of which the discharge derrick may be manipulated into position in the vicinity of the manhole M. The hitch is employed for attaching the discharge derrick 12 to a tractor for transporting the same to and from any given scene of operations,

Referring now, additionally, to FIGS. 3 to 6, inclusive, wherein the details of the impact mechanism 10 of the present invention are best illustrated, this mechanism is provided for the purpose of insuring complete discharge of the contained material in the inverted drag bucket 14 at the upper end of the ramp 16 and includes an impact head 80, together with manually operable means whereby this impact head may repeatedly be brought into impacting engagement with the side wall of the bucket 14 when the latter is in its inverted position against the rollers 34 and 36.

The impact head is of unitary construction. It is preferably in the form of a casting of generally Y-shape design and comprises a cylindrical body portion 82 and a forward cradle portion 84. The latter embodies a flat cradle bottom 86 and inclined cradle side arms 88. The cylindrical body portion 82 has formed therein a socket 90 within which there is received the forward end of an elongated operating or thrust rod 92, such end of the rod being pinned or otherwise secured within the socket 90 as indicated at 94. As will be described in greater detail presently, guide means are provided on the framework 50 whereby the operating rod 92 is capable of limited axial shifting between a retracted position wherein the impact head 80 is out of contact with the inverted drag bucket 14 as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 3 and a position of impact as shown in full lines in this view. In its position of impact, the curved wall of the bucket 14 makes tangential contact with the cradle bottom 86, as well as with the side arms 88.

The operating rod 92 is of elongated design and we tends substantially longitudinally and centrally of the ramp frame 54 below the level of the inclined plane thereof and below the level of the guide pulley 34 as best seen in FIG. 1. The rod 92 is slidably supported in the ramp frame by means of a series of guide sleeves, the number and arrangement of which may vary in different installations but which, in the present exemplary installation, are three in number. The three guide sleeves incude a forward sleeve 100, an intermediate sleeve 102, and a rear sleeve 104. The forward sleeve is welded in position within an opennig 166 in one of the transverse members 66. The intermediate sleeve 102 is similarly carried on another transverse member, while the rear sleeve is welded as indicated at 108 to a supporting strap 110 which, in turn, is welded as at 112 to the bottom region of the trough-like sheet metal ramp 16. The three guide sleeves 10d, 102 and 104 are appropriately spaced at longitudinal regions along the ramp frame 54.

A helical compression spring 114 surrounds the rod 92 and bears at its rear end against the sleeve 102. The forward end of the spring abuts against a collar 116 which is secured on the rod 92 by means of a set screw 118. The spring is provided for the purpose of absorbing rebound shock after impact of the head 80 with the bucket 14.

As best seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the extreme rear end of the operating rod 92 has formed therein a slot 120 which is designed for reception of one end of an operating lever 122. The lever 122 is pivoted as at 124 medially of its ends to a suspension bracket 126 which is carried by one of the side members 55 of the ramp frame 54, the pivotal connection being such that the lever 122 is capable of swinging movement in an inclined plane about its pivotal axis. One end of the lever 122 projects into the slot 120 and is contoured as indicated at 128 to fit against a thru-bolt 130 which projects across the outer end region of the slot 120 and serves to capture the projecting end of the lever 122 in the slot. The other end of the lever is provided with a manipulating handle 132 which normally is disposed outwardly of the framework 50 where it is readily accessible for manipulation by the derrick operator.

In the operation of the herein described discharge derrick 12, if the contents of the drag bucket 14 fail to become fully discharged at the time that the bucket assumes its inverted and inclined position at the upper end of the ramp 16, it is merely necessary for the operator to engage the handle 132 and pull the same rearwardly so that the lever swings in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 3 through a small angle from the normal dotted line position thereof as illustrated in FIG. 3 to the full line impact position. During such swinging movement of the lever 122, the contoured end 128 thereof engages the bottom of the slot 120 and thus forces the operating rod 92 forwardly through the three guide sleeves 100, 102 and 104 to the dotted line position thereof, thus carrying the rod 92 forwardly and causing the impact head 80 to impinge forcibly against the side wall of the drag bucket 14 so as to jar the bucket by an impact force and cause any material which may have adhered to the inside surface of the bucket side wall to become dislodged so that it will fall by gravity to the dump truck therebeneath. Two or three such jarring operations will ordinarily suffice to complete a bucket-emptying operation.

The invention is not to be limited to the exact arrangement of parts shown in the accompanying drawings or described in this specification as various changes in the details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. For example, the various parts of the impact mechanism may be separately manufactured and furnished as individual units, the consumer specifying the length of the operating rod 92 and the number and type of guide sleeves which will be required for a given installation. He may also specify the character of the various suspension straps and other articles of hardware which he may require for the installation. These parts will be applied to the framework of the particular discharge derrick involved in the installation empirically wherever their installation is found to be practical, the only installation requirement being that, when the structure is finally assembled on the derrick framework, the guide rod 92 will assume a central longitudinal position with respect to the ramp frame and that the stroke of the operating rod be such as to cause Withdrawal of the impact head from the side wall of the drag bucket 14 a sufficient distance to allow the long rod 92 to gather sufiicient momentum under the influence of manual force to give a good impact blow by the impact head against the bucket. Therefore, only insofar as the invention has particularly been pointed out in the accompanying claim is the same to be limited.

Having thus described the invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a sewer-cleaning drag bucket discharge derrick of the character described, in combination, a derrick framework including an inclined ramp frame having a rear elevated receiving end establishing an operating station and adapted to be positioned adjacent to a manhole and a further elevated front discharge end adapted to be disposed an appreciable distance from said manhole and above a dump truck or the like, said ramp frame including side members and a trough-like ramp proper supported from and bridging the distance between said side members, upper and lower guide pulleys rotatably mounted at the discharge and receiving ends of the ramp frame, respectively, said guide pulleys being adapted for rolling, cradling support of a guide bucket passing thereover and also for travel of a bucket-carrying cable thereover, a stabilizing roller at the discharge end of the ramp frame positioned below the upper guide pulley and adapted to support the leading end of the bucket when the trailing end thereof is supported on the upper guide pulley with the bucket overhanging the discharge end of the ramp frame and assuming an inverted contents-discharging position, an elongated thrust rod mounted on said ramp frame for limited endwise sliding movement, the forward end of the thrust rod being disposed adjacent to the discharge end of the ramp frame and the rear end of the rod being disposed adjacent to the receiving end of the ramp frame, an impact head carried on the forward end of the thrust rod, said thrust rod being movable between an advanced position wherein the impact head engages said bucket when the latter is supported on the upper guide pulley and stabilizing roller, and a retracted position wherein the impact head is removed from said bucket, a collar on said thrust rod medially of the latters ends, a shock-absorbing compression spring encircling said thrust rod immediately rearwardly of said collar, one end of said spring being engageable with the collar and the other end of the spring being engageable with a fixed portion of the ramp frame for absorbing the shock of said thrust rod, and an operating lever of the first class pivoted medially of its ends to the ramp frame and having its inner end pivotally connected to the rear end of the thrust rod and its outer end region projecting laterally outwardly beyond the confines of the ramp frame where it is accessible to an operator at said operating station.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,046,256 6/ 1936 Fisher. 2,700,268 1/1955 Lowe. 2,892,557 6/1959 Prange 214103 2,936,917 5/1960 Musgrave 214308 X 3,013,374 12/ 1961 Balsbaugh 21464.2 X

GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner.

M R S N, E aminer. 

